Kapszczyzna (, ) was a tax in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania on distilling or selling alcoholic drinks, a type of the excise tax on alcohol. In Polish lands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth the corresponding tax was called .KOPCZYZNAkapszczyzna
By one suggestion, the term is a variation of the Polish term kopczyzna, a different kind of tax, under the influence of the Belarusian language feature of akanye (o->a phonemic shift). Kapszszczyzna itself is derived from the monetary unit Kopa. By another suggestion it is derived from Latin capagium (a kind of monetary subsidy (pecuniarium subsidium)Glossarium ad scriptores mediæ et infimæ Latinitatis, Volume 2, 1733, p. 213).
This tax was collected annually before Christmas and directed to the state treasury.МИТНА ЕНЦИКЛОПЕДІЯ, 2013 , p. 335, entry "Капщизна" Its amount was uniform over the state., Исторія Кабаковъ въ Россіи въ связи съ исторіей Русскаго народа, 1868 (public domain), Chapter XII, pp.149-161. Quote from p. 155: "Капщызна однакова по всему Великому князьству Литовсъкому мает быти брана, то есть: од меду копа грошей, от пива чотыры пенези, от горелъки два пенези, от волоки двенадцати пенезей. А хъто шынъку и волоки не маеть, тот от ворот два пенези. А обачывши лепъшы пожиток знаймованья шынку волно будет кому хотя нанята, або тым же мещаном за ведомостью подскарбего нашего"
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